Heart of Deception
by I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi
Summary: One year after the return of Tenten's brother Koudo... why did he return and what lies ahead for all of them? sorry it took me forever to start this story, even though I promised it over a year and a half ago
1. One Year Later

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!  
**A/N**: Sorry it's taken over a year to write this story even though I promised it sooooooo long ago. But I finally have an idea so I think it'll be worth the wait XD. Enjoy!

SPECIAL THANKS:To fmorgana for your input on this chapter. It helped put my mind at ease and finally allowed me to post it ;p.

_**  
**_**ONE YEAR LATER****  
**

_

* * *

_

Three hundred and sixty five days.

Tenten smiled as she crossed out the previous day on her calendar. It was exactly one year to the day since that fateful morning when her childish, yet loveable, older brother had stepped foot into the crowded barbeque restaurant where the Konoha 11 had agreed to meet for lunch. It was hard to believe that time had gone by so quickly. It seemed like only yesterday that Tenten walked into the restaurant to find her older brother harassing her white-eyed teammate; a habit of his which had become more prevalent over the months that followed.

"Poor Neji." She grinned as the memories of the countless insults, instances of hidden training gear, random flash bombings, caffeine in his bedtime tea, and all the other various pranks her brother had pulled on the Hyuga over the last year, came rushing back at her. "Despite how much he tries, I don't think Koudo-nii-san is ever going to ease up on him." the kunoichi mused to herself.

Though she faked ignorance on the matter, Tenten was very much aware that there existed some sort of animosity between Neji and her brother. And while at first it had bothered her to think that two of the most important people in her life seemed to hate each other, she had soon come to believe the exact opposite was true, and that in reality both men actually really liked each other.

"Though I'm sure they'll never admit it." Tenten snickered, as she walked over to her bedside drawer and picked up the picture Ino had taken of her and Neji the previous week as they were coming back from training. The younger kunoichi had been eager to try out her new camera and, having run into them right after purchasing it, had asked the two teammates to stand close together. But just as the blond kunoichi was about to press the button to take the photo, Koudo had jumped in between the two sparring partners, and had ended up in the shot as well. "It came out nice though." Tenten noted; smiling happily as she took in the image of her brother, with each arm wrapped around her and Neji. (**1**)

He looked happy. Something for which the bun-haired kunoichi was very glad.

When he had decided to stay in the village as a regular shinobi --forsaking his previous life as an ANBU who spent most of his time on far off, long-term missions – Tenten had been slightly nervous that her older brother would become bored, or worst, that he would end up hating the new life he had chosen. But now, a year later, it seemed she had worried for nothing. Not only had Koudo adjusted to life as a normal Jounin, he had become quite popular in the village. Having taken a liking to him immediately, Gai had introduced, or rather _re-_introduced, Koudo to the village and practically all it's inhabitants in a single day (a goal he had set for himself and had somehow managed to achieve).

Naturally, being of an easy-going (albeit at times goofy) personality, Koudo was able to make many friends instantly. Among his many new friends, Iruka, the academy teacher, had introduced Koudo to the world of academia. Shortly after their friendship began, Iruka had somehow convinced the former-ANBU to teach a daily weaponry class at the academy for about two months. Koudo had apparently taken such a liking to the post that, with the help of Iruka and some of the other academy teachers, he had recently taken and successfully passed the shinobi teaching examination.

"He might actually be growing up..." Tenten mused proudly as she looked down at the picture in her hands.

"AHH!" A sudden scream, followed by a loud bang as the kunoichi's bedroom door flung open, filled the small room.

"Huh? What?!?" Tenten quickly positioning herself in a defensive stance as she turned to see what was going on. "KOUDO!" She yelled, upon seeing it was her idiotic older brother in the doorway. "Can't you ever knock?" Rolling her eyes, the kunoichi pulled back the kunai that had been meant to protect her.

"That gives _him_ time to hide." Koudo bluntly replied, as he entered the room and quickly began searching through the small space; tossing over the bed covers, opening the closet, and scanning any possible place that a full grown adult could hide in.

"Then why yell before bursting in?" Tenten snidely remarked; pointing out the flaw in her brother's plan.

"Because I want him to fear what comes next." Koudo replied in an eerie tone as he made his way towards the window to check if the Hyuga had maybe stepped out onto the side of the house or run off before Koudo entered the room.

"You do realize he has x-ray vision right?" The kunoichi reminded her older brother, implying that Neji would be able to see Koudo coming even if he did try to sneak up on him.

"Haah!" The older shinobi gasped upon making some sort of connection in his mind.

Turning to his younger sister and quickly grabbing hold of her hand, he frantically began pulling her with him out to the busy streets below.

"Where are you taking me?" Tenten pulled at her arm, trying in vain to wrestle herself away from her brother's grasp.

"To buy lead underwear!" Koudo replied; hurrying his pace as they entered the village shopping distract.

"That's ridiculous!" She slapped away the older man's hand, effectively releasing herself as they came to a stop in front of a clothing store. "Besides, it's not like it would make any difference at this point anyway." She carelessly added; not thinking that the paranoia of his overprotective older-brother brain would conjure up images and thoughts that were not in her best interest.

"WHAT?!" Koudo instantly tensed; once more grabbing hold of his younger sister's arm. "Does... does that mean...." He began; tears brimming at the corners of his eyes as he stared down questioningly at the younger girl. "Oh Kami!" He desperately exclaimed to the heavens. "How could this happen? My baby sister has been defiled! That bastard! I'll kill him! How could he soil my precious little Tennie-chan?!?" Tears began pouring out of the older man's eyes as he continued on his idiotic ranting.

"Stop it!" Tenten urged her brother to calm down; feeling more than a few eyes burrowing into her back as her brother continued to humiliate her with his irrational behavior. "That's not what I meant!" She yelled; hoping her voice might reach over her brother's loud sobbing.

"Oh?" Koudo momentarily ceased his tantrum as he waited for the bun-haired girl to explain herself.

"I meant," Tenten began; grateful that at least he had stopped yelling embarrassing things, even if his face was still covered in tears and snot. "We've been teammates for years now," she stated; momentarily believing that would be enough explanation, but upon seeing her brother's uncertain expression, as he wiped his face with the sleeve of his red coat, she decided to try to explain it more clearly. "Which means, if he had wanted to, he could have peeked plenty of times by now."

"..." Koudo's eyes grew wide as he processed the statement the kunoichi had just made. "I knew it!" He agitatedly exclaimed. "HYUGA NEJI IS A PERVERT!" The former-ANBU loudly declared; causing more than a few passersby to stop and stare at the two siblings as one tearfully cursed at the heavens and the other covered her face in shame and frustration.

"Ahem." An exaggerated cough behind them pulled the two sibling's away for their personal thoughts.

Turning to see who had walked up to them, Tenten just about fell over as she came face to face with none other than the Hyuga prodigy himself. "Neji!" she gasped in surprise and embarrassment.

Instantly, Koudo rushed between the two sparring partners, effectively blocking his little sister from the Hyuga's sight. "BACK! You perverted fiend!" the former-ANBU dramatically exclaimed. "Don't even _think_ about using your byakugan to peek through my Tennie-chans clothes!" He accusingly glared at the younger man; already convinced in his mind that that was naturally all that the prodigy used his bloodline-limit for. "You may have done it in the past, but from now on, no more!" He adamantly declared.

"I have done no such a thing." Neji firmly denied; trying his best to keep his irritation at being called a pervert from showing in his stoic expression.

"But you THOUGHT about it!" Koudo accusingly pointed at the younger shinobi. "And if you think I'm gonna let you try anything, you've got another thing coming!" And with that, the former-ANBU-turned academy teacher, once more grabbed hold of his younger sister's arm and pulled her away from the Hyuga, as Tenten smiled apologetically at her less than please sparring partner, who merely watched the siblings disappear into a blacksmith's shop, all the while attempting to cover the soft crimson that colored his pale complexion at the slight truth in the last accusation made by his crush's paranoid older brother.\

* * *

(1) There is a fanart of this picture in my deviantart account (go to my profile to find the link).

* * *

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS**:

1. On **nejitenplz. deviantart. com** (minus the spaces) April will be NEJITEN MONTH, if you're interested in participating, or you just love Nejiten, come join us and bask in the Nejiten love!  
2. I need a last name for Koudo and Tenten in this story so i'll putting up a poll both my profile page here and on my deviantart page, so please vote.  
3. I've got a bunch of **Koudo** fanart/profile/etc on my deviantart page, so if you're interested just check out my profile.  
4. With the exception of a few oneshots I've already started, my Oneshot: NejiTen collection is on hold until this story is finished. Please support this story, it encourages me to write, and thus to finish so I can go back to the oneshot collection. Also, it's more fun when I get feedback and helps me guide the story in the direction thats most fun for all of us (both author and readers


	2. Lead

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

A/N: I apologize this took so long, and I apologize even more than the next one will probably take even longer (I have to study for the July Bar... so not til August probably). This was a little rush (sorry didn't have an inspiration until today, the last day before I start my intensive studying), but still, I hope you enjoy it. Btw, there are _multiple_ meanings to this simple title. ;p

* * *

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**LEAD****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- **_

_**

* * *

**_

It was ten minutes passed the hour as Neji walked into the crowded restaurant, searching for the table his team had reserved for the evening. He was late and he knew it. Just as he knew that it would earn him a scolding from his sensei; as well as few snide comments and disapproving glanced from the former ANBU, turned school teacher, whom they were all gathering to celebrate that evening.

"Haah," Neji sighed.

It was bad enough that Koudo already didn't like him, Neji hated to give the older shinobi more reasons to disapprove of him. Unfortunately, it had not been his choice to be late for the evening's celebration. In fact, Neji had cleared most of his afternoon in order to avoid any possibilities of that occurring. Regrettably, the young Hyuga had not foreseen that his Uncle and the elders would stop him moments before he was to step out of the Hyuga compound. The worst part, however, had been the reason why they had halted him at the door. It appeared that someone had informed the elders of inappropriate use of the byakugan, perpetrated by none other than the Hyuga prodigy himself. Of course it was an out-right lie, undoubtedly spread across the village that morning when the bun-haired kunoichi and her older brother had been arguing in the busy village shopping district, but it was still something which the elders felt needed to be addressed. And so they had lectured the white-eyed prodigy on the impropriety of misusing ones byakugan to peek under a female's garments.

It had been the most humiliating lecture the Jounin had ever received.

During the entire ordeal, Neji had seethed in suppressed rage, silently wondering if perhaps Koudo had intentionally yelled out in the market place to get him in trouble with the elders in order to make him late for the celebratory dinner that had been planned for that day.

A tiny voice in his head told Neji he was being paranoid. What kind of person would be able to predict so accurate an outcome from a simple, albeit scandalous, comment?

Remembering all the times Koudo had somehow managed to get him into trouble through simple acts alone, however, Neji quickly decided that in fact the former ANBU _did_ set him up. Unfortunately, like in all the past instances, Neji had no proof and as such, he could not accuse the older shinobi of anything.

"Haah." Neji sighed again.

What was it about him the older man found so disagreeable? What reasons did Koudo have to enjoy tormenting the white-eyed shinobi?

"NEJI!" A familiar cheerful voice yelled out as the Hyuga entered the farthest room in the large restaurant.

And therein laid the reason.

From the moment Neji and Koudo met, the older shinobi had taken it upon himself to make the Hyuga's life a living nightmare. Neji could not even being to count the numerous times Koudo had either insulted him, or hidden his training gear, or stripped and hung him upside-down from a tree, or launched home-made bombs at him, or put caffeine in his bedtime tea, or set him on fire, or put him through any one of a number of other 'harmless' pranks, simply because he could.

And he could.

Koudo could do all that because Neji never did anything in response. He never accused him. Never retaliated. Never even got mad; at least not outwardly.

What was the point anyway?

Neji knew that Koudo wanted to get a rise out of him. And while he hated having all those pranks played on him, Neji also knew that if he reacted negatively, it would only make things worse for him. It was bad enough that Koudo constantly reminded the Hyuga he didn't think Neji was good enough for his little sister, Neji didn't want to give the former ANBU any more reason to actually believe that. A fact which the white-eyed shinobi endlessly debated about in his mind.

Seriously, Neji had no idea whether Koudo really hated him or not.

For one, despite his constant need to stand in their way when they wanted to go out on a date, or stay in and watch a movie, or do other couple things, Koudo had not resisted or fought against his younger sister's relationship with Neji. That, however, had been the only time he hadn't tried to come between them. Once the two sparring partners became a couple, Koudo had done everything in his power to keep them from having any time to themselves. And he did such a good job at it, in fact, that Neji's first kiss with the bun-haired kunoichi didn't occur until six months into the relationship, when the Hyuga had finally had enough of waiting for a time when Koudo wasn't around, that the Hyuga broke with his usual mind-on-the-mission rule during a escort assignment, three days sprint from the village, and he pulled the kunoichi into his arms and kissed her with a feverish passion even he had been surprised by.

"Tenten..." Neji smiled, remembering that wonderful moment fondly, as he walked in the direction he had heard the bun-haired girl's voice coming from seconds earlier. "Hn?"

The Hyuga stopped mid-stride as he reached the table where the rest of his party was already busy ordering. The prodigy's right eyebrow rose as he stared questioningly at the sight before him; mindful to keep his mouth from dropping open, lest it should destroy his carefully crafted stoic expression.

"What..." His words failed him as he blinked repeatedly. Once, twice, three times. Neji continued to blink, convinced his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Agh, don't ask." Tenten mumbled, clearly unhappy with the situation herself.

And who wouldn't be? Before him, dressed from head to toe in perhaps the most uncomfortable attire imaginable, sat the bun-haired kunoichi in a suit of armor.

"Koudo-san bought Tenten-san a new mission outfit!" Lee excited shouted from the other side of the table as Neji continued to stare at his girlfriend and her bazaar appearance, as she struggled with the helmet, trying to keep the front of it from falling down to cover her face. "Is it not the most youthful thing you have ever seen?" Lee admiringly gestured toward the suit of armor, undoubtedly thinking it was a method of training which he had yet to discover.

"Ah..." Neji stood at a loss for words.

Remembering all that had occurred throughout the day, and the one phrase that had started it all, the pieces slowly began to fall into place. At last, Neji knew exactly what Koudo had been planning all along. But it was too late. He had fallen into the trap with his eyes wide-open. And it all came down to this moment....

"..." He let out a deep sigh, before turning to the former-ANBU. "The byakugan _can_ see through lead." Neji begrudgingly admitted.

"HA!" Koudo shouted as he rose to his feet from besides his younger sister, pointing his finger accusingly at the younger shinobi. "YOU ARE A PERVERT!" he shouted loudly for all the hear.

Silently taking a seat besides the armored-maiden, Neji hoped she couldn't see the blush on his face through the thin slits of the cumbersome helmet, which had inevitably fallen to cover her face.

He had done it for her; knowing that her brother would force the suit of armor upon the bun-haired kunoichi if Neji hadn't admitted to the fact that it was useless for the purposes which Koudo had supposedly bought it for. Of course, Neji was certain the older shinobi had already known that. He had just wanted to get Neji to stay it out-loud so that the he could take it as an implicit admission that the Hyuga had perviously misused his byakugan.

"agh." Neji groaned quietly in his seat, as the former ANBU and the two green beasts passionately promised to the four winds that they would save the Hyuga from a life of unyouthful debauchery, as well as continuing to announce to the world (or at least the restaurant patrons) that Hyuga Neji was in fact a pervert.

"Hey." Tenten's voice called out in a echo, as she carefully covered the prodigy's hand with her metal glove. "Thanks Neji."

"Hn." A small smile slowly spread across the Hyuga's lightly crimson-tinted face. "You're welcome," he replied. And he meant it. As humiliating as the day had been, he knew he would do it all over again for her.

* * *

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS**:

1. I'm going on a 3-month Hiatus (cos I need to study) but I'll continue this story when I get back.

2. Just a NOTE on ANONOYMOUS REVIEWS... I appreciate them, just as much as I appreciate signed reviews, but seriously if you're going to ask me a question and expect an answer, please SIGN IN... I can't always find people, and it's not really fair to make me do so. So if you actually want an answer, give me a place where I can reply to. Thanks.


	3. Two Weeks

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**A/N**: I apologize this took so long.

**WRITERS NEEDED (read note below!)**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**TWO WEEKS****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"I'm sorry about earlier," Tenten smiled apologetically as she returned, in normal clothes and out of the suit of armor she had previously been wearing. Balancing two cups and a plate in her hands, Tenten quickly sat down next to Neji on the small bench in the garden in her backyard.

"It's okay," he replied as she handed him a cup of tea and placed a small plate of sweet pastries between them.

She was, of course, referring to the dinner team Gai had had a few hours earlier with the kunoichi's overprotective older brother. The dinner, had been meant to celebrate the anniversary of Koudo's one year back in the village, as well as his new position as a permanent academy instructor, but in the end it had turned into yet another session of Koudo teasing and tormenting the Hyuga prodigy.

"I think," Tenten began, demurely covering her mouth as she tried to suppress her giggles. "It was Koudo-niisan's way of showing you how much he's going to miss you these next two weeks," she added, alluding to the mission their team had recently been assigned to embark upon on the following day.

Processing her words, Neji tried not to react to what she had just said. Inwardly, he was grateful they were seated, as he knew if he had been on his feet, the statement would have caused him to topple over in disbelief.

For many months now, Neji had known Tenten was under the bizarre impression that her brother actually liked the Hyuga prodigy; a concept which he himself could not even begin to comprehend. To Neji, it just didn't seem possible that a man who appeared to spend every free moment of his day plotting out different ways in which to humiliate and enrage him, could also actually like him. It just didn't make sense; it simply did not fit the older shinobi's behavior.

Since the day they had met, Koudo never missed an opportunity to make Neji's day miserable; be it by interrupting the small amount of time he had with Tenten outside of training and missions, or by setting the younger shinobi up to fall into one his numerous and varied practical jokes. It was for these and many other reasons that Neji failed to understand how it was Tenten had developed her theory that Koudo might actually like him.

"My brother is typically a very serious man," Tenten began explaining, obviously seeing the confusion in her boyfriend's eyes.

Though he had only ever once caught a glimpse of the seriousness of which she was referring to (during the two shinobis first fight, a few days after they had met)(1), and Koudo generally behaved everything to the contrary, Neji was well aware that the kunoichi was correct. After meeting the former ANBU, Neji had done a brief background check on the older man and discovered that, despite his goofy behavior around his younger sister, the man was actually quite feared and respected amongst the older shinobi who knew him well. He was regarded as a ferocious and skilled shinobi, who was deadlier and unyieldingly more focused than most. His specialty, as he had claimed when the two first met, was information gathering, however his secondary specialty was in assassinations, a talent for which he was often specifically requested for throughout the five nations. Very early he had shown much promise. He had graduated the academy at the age of ten, and by the age of fourteen had already attained the status of jounin. At sixteen he had gone into the ANBU corps, and by eighteen, had been made captain. All these achievements where nothing short of impressive, and it clearly showed a talent and dedication that was not at first evident upon meeting the man in question.

Because of this Neji had long suspected and formed the opinion that Koudo was a much more serious and determined shinobi then he let on. And he knew that the goofy personality that he portrayed while around his sister and her friends was a way of hiding his true nature. A nature, which Neji had yet to fully comprehend. The one thing he did know, however, was Koudo was a man of many secrets. Outside of his achievements, and his apparent sister-complex, the rest of the man's history and personality was a complete mystery. After becoming jounin, the man was scarcely ever in the village for longer than a few days. In more recent years, he was not even around for a full day. Why that was, or what it meant, even Tenten did not seem to know. But it left Neji with a nagging, uneasy feeling that something just was not quite right, and the older man's goofy demeanor was a way of hiding something very important.

"The fact that he teases you," Tenten continued, interrupting the Hyuga's thoughts as he returned his attention to what she had begun to say. "And is playful around you..." she paused, furrowing her brow as if she was trying to think of a better way of expressing her thoughts, but didn't seem quite able to. "I think it means he likes you." She slowly bobbed her head up and down slowly, as if nodding in agreement with her own statement, though somewhat doubtful of it's validity herself.

"hn." Neji grunted, bringing his cup up to his lips as he tried to understand her leap in logic, but failed to grasp it.

"Either way," Tenten shrugged, as if indicating her own uncertainty in what she had tried to explain, "I think he was just getting in as much teasing out as he could before we left on our mission, just to make up for the time he won't have you around to mess with," she giggled, a hint of mischief in her tone as she playfully smirked at the Hyuga, hidden quickly by the tea cup she brought up to her lips.

That was a statement Neji could actually agreed with. Unlike the kunoichi, however, Neji did not quite believe it was out of affection that the older man was trying to torment him as much as possible before their team's departure, but rather out of malice that he desired to torture the Hyuga for as long as he could and as much as he could.

"Haah," Neji sighed contently. Despite the day he had had, he actually felt good. In less than a few hours, he and his team would be leaving on a two week mission, which meant plenty of time for the rumors that had begun that morning, to die down. But more importantly, it meant two weeks without Koudo. Two weeks without the interferences. Two weeks without the pranks. Two weeks without the insults. Two weeks of peace and freedom!

"What are you smiling about?" Tenten bemusedly asked, giving the Hyuga a strange look that seemed an odd mixture of curiosity, mirth, and playfulness.

"Nothing," Neji replied, the smirk on his face growing as he allowed himself to momentarily enjoy the idea of spending two weeks with the kunoichi without having the shadow of her overprotective older brother looming overhead. "I was just thinking..." he began, skillfully moving the plate of pastries behind him as he scooted closer towards the kunoichi.

"Oh?" Tenten smiled knowingly, inching her way closer to him as the two sparring partners looked deep into one another's eyes, neither of them blinking as each tried to hold the other's gaze.

"Maybe," Neji softly whispered, as he leaned in closer, his voice growing deeper as his eyes darted back and forth between Tenten's eyes and her mouth.

"Yes?" Tenten huskily questioned, unconsciously licking her lips as they inched closer and closer together.

"On our way back," he slowly continued, his voice dropped lower as his lips came within centimeters of hers. "We can take a small trip to some hotspring baths..." Neji softly whispered his suggestion, as his lips lightly brushed those of the kunoichi.

"That," Tenten smiled at the idea, lightly pecking his lips as she looked tenderly into his eyes. "Would be really ni- AAH" the kunoichi yelled out as the cold rush of water being pour down on the man in front of her slightly splashed her before she could completely pull away.

Every muscle in the Hyuga's body clenched as tried to assess what had just occurred. Looking up, he saw the smirking face of his most hated rival, holding a large empty bucket in his hands.

"The water heater's broken," Koudo innocently smiled at his younger sister, completely ignoring the man he had just drenched in ice cold water moments earlier.

"And you felt the need to pour cold water on us to prove this?" Tenten incredulously asked as she rose to her feet and moved to stand in front of her brother, glaring at him menacingly.

"Oh?" Koudo feigned ignorance. "I thought I overheard him say something about needing a bath..." he shrugged, smirking slightly as he turned to eye the soaked Hyuga. "Just trying to help." Koudo's smile grew wider as he watched the younger man squeeze the water out of his long dark hair. "You should probably go back home now," the older shinobi added to the prodigy, waving emphatically as he grabbed on to Tenten's shoulder and quickly began guiding her into the small two story house they shared. "Unless of course you want to get sick and end up missing your mission with Tennie-chan!" Koudo shouted, just as he walked in to the house, shutting the door quickly behind him before the Hyuga could even think to reply.

"Not a chance!" Neji growled to himself through clenched teeth, as he stood up, quickly removing his wet shirt, weary of the idea Koudo may have actually really planned to get him sick.

He wouldn't have put it past the older man.

Swiftly leaping into the air, rushing over rooftops to get to the Hyuga compound to take a shower before he could catch a cold, Neji wished he could will the morning to come sooner, so that the two weeks without the older man could start already.

**TBC**

* * *

(1) that would be in chapter 3 of the first Koudo story.

**WRITERS NEEDED**: So, over on deviant art, we're holding a Collaboration Festival for the month of September. What we're doing is having writers and artist pair up and work together on a sort of illustrated story. Basically one person does a oneshot and the other illustrates either a scene, or the basic theme through either a fanart, or an AMV of what ever other visual medium they can come up with. Unfortunate we're kind of short of writers in the event (sign up is until August 31st) so if anyone here is interested, please go to my profile page and it'll direct you to the journal that discussed this event. I hope some of you will consider signing up.


	4. Bittersweet goodbyes

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

**

* * *

**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**BITTER SWEET GOODBYES****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

What was it about goodbyes that always seemed so bitter sweet?

On the one hand, goodbyes meant being separated from loved ones, which was never a pleasant experience. There was fear and apprehension of what could happen; of whether the danger of mission life might finally catch up. Or whether the distance and time would drive people apart and make friends into strangers.

On the other hand, goodbyes always came just before an new and exciting adventure. He liked adventures. It probably had something to do with the fact that his father would often comfort him with the tales of his travels after long absences on perilous journeys throughout the five nations. Of course as a child, Koudo hadn't realized the journeys were dangerous. All he had known was that his father would disappear for weeks, sometimes even months, and he would miss him a lot. Which, again, brought him back to the bitterness of the bittersweet feeling of goodbyes.

"Why!" the grown man wailed heartbrokenly as he gripped firmly to his younger sister's hips, kneeling in front of her, practically falling over as she attempted to pull away from his grasp, only to have him get dragged along the dirt at their feet.

"Koudo-niisan," Tenten groaned, trying her best to pry him off of her by pushing him down, without having her baggy red mission pants pulled down along with him. "You already knew we were leaving on this mission, why are you making such a big deal about it now?"

"But-but." Koudo sniffed back the tears, as he tightened his grip around the kunoichi's hips, unwilling to part with his beloved little sister. "You didn't mention you'd be gone for two weeks!" he accusingly shouted as he buried his tearstained face into her stomach, hoping his pathetic state would convince her to stay.

"Yes I did!" she angrily shouted, her irritation clearly evident in her tone as she glared down at him.

Perhaps she _had_ informed him. But, earlier in the day, when he had overheard one of the other academy teachers mention that Gai's team would be leaving for two weeks, it had been news to Koudo. At the time he hadn't really stopped to question how that could be, given that his sister always told him how long and how far her missions would be. Recently, however, Koudo had been rather distracted. He had been so busy focusing on taking his exam to become a permanent academy instructor, as opposed to merely a substitute (which is what he had been up until the previous day), that it was not hard to imagine that a few things here and there may have escaped his noticed.

"No you didn't!" he whined, not sure if that was in fact the truth, but since he couldn't remember hearing about it, as far as Koudo was concerned, no one had told him.

"Yes I did!" Tenten countered, tugging his ears firmly as she continued struggling against him. "It's not my fault you don't listen!"

"Ow!" Koudo cringed, finally letting go as he rubbed his soar ear, certain she had also dug her nails into the lobe while scolding him for his lack of attention.

Tenten sighed, moving a few steps back to avoid having her brother clamp back on to her. "It's just a mission." she smoothly stated as she began breathing in deeply; a habit which she had picked up as a little girl whenever she was feeling overwhelmed by her brother but did not want to hurt his feelings by telling him so.

"But-but," Koudo's lip quivered as he tried hard to come up with something to say to explain why Tenten shouldn't be going on her mission.

"Niisan." the kunoichi groaned softly, discreetly rolling her eyes as she watched her brother. "And I thought you were finally growing up..." she quietly griped, as her eyes wandered over to the group of academy students standing a few feet behind them. "Shouldn't you at least _attempt_ to act like a grown up?"

"It's a lesson." Koudo tearfully wailed; a half-hearted attempt to explain why he had left the academy, with his students in tow, to meet his sister and her team at the front gates as they left for their mission. "And important lesson!" he sobbed loudly.

"What lesson?" She incredulously questioned.

"The-the importance of," he sniffed, "importance of cherishing your baby sister!" he half yelled, half cried, once more throwing himself onto Tenten, squeezing her tightly as he began sobbing like a baby.

"Koudo!" Tenten sighed exasperatedly. "It's just a mission," she repeated. "We're not even going to engage any enemy shinobi." she added, turning to her team for the first time, hoping one of them could talk some sense into her brother.

"That is correct!" Gai, who had, up until this point, been moved to tears at the 'youthful' display of sibling love, nodded in agreement. "Our mission is merely to gather information on a small group of weapon distributors," he informed the younger man.

"Weapons?" Koudo momentarily stopped crying; a horrible feeling suddenly building inside of him as he began to wonder if perhaps... '_No'_ he shook his head, thinking it couldn't possibly be the group he was thinking of.

"No, what?" Tenten asked, upon seeing her brother shake his head for no apparent reason.

He didn't want to tell her what he was actually thinking. Though, in a way it concerned her, it was something the former ANBU had vowed she would never know. "Him!" Koudo shouted, pointing to the silent Hyuga, who had been standing the farthest away from the pair of siblings, clearly apprehensive that Koudo might take the last chance he had to _play_ with him before the team of four took off for two weeks.

"Huh?" the kunoichi turned to look at her boyfriend, curiously looking to Neji as if he would know what her brother could possibly be referring to.

"Gai! Lee!" Koudo let go of Tenten, rushing over to the aforementioned shinobi and grabbing both of their hands in his. "You must swear to me you will protect my Tennie-chan from that lecherous monster!" he exaggeratedly exclaimed, while still pointing at the now twitching Hyuga.

Moved by the older brother's 'youthful' love for his baby sister, Gai and Lee earnestly swore to keep the hormone-crazed Hyuga away from the kunoichi for the duration of their mission, much to Koudo's amusement.

He would miss playing with his favorite toy for the next two weeks, almost as much as he would miss being with his beloved sister, but knowing that Gai and Lee would be there to make the Hyuga's life a little more miserable, gave the former ANBU great pleasure. _'If only I could see what kind of torment these two will inflict upon the brat...' _Koudo smirked as he thought to himself.

"Ok that's enough!" Tenten firmly stomped her right foot on the ground, calling everyones attention back on her. "We have a mission to go on," she reminded them. "and _you_," she turned to her brother glaring at him as if to say he better not disagree with her. "Don't you have a class to attend to?" she gestured over at the group of nine-year-olds waiting patiently next to Izumo Kamizuki and Kotestsu Hagane, who were both grinning amusedly inside their guard station.

"Tennie..." Koudo pouted helplessly, in one last-ditch effort to convince her to let her three other teammates take care of the mission without her, though inwardly he realize the reason the mission had been assigned to Team Gai had undoubtedly been because of the kunoichi's extensive knowledge of weaponry.

"I'll be back in two weeks," she sighed, quickly giving her pathetic looking big brother a quick hug and peck on the cheek, before her team swiftly exited the village and disappeared into the forest just outside the village gates.

"Don't worry Nii-san," Kotestsu teasingly smirked. "She'll be fine."

"Yeah," Izumo nodded. "It's not like Hyuga-san would take advantage of a long mission, far from the village in Iron Country."

Kotestsu's smirk widened as the two men continued their teasing. "It's not like he's been pining away for years, and has finally been given an opportunity to be alone with-"

"OI!" Koudo slammed his fist down hard on the booth, cracking the hard wood. Gone was the earlier goofy demeanor that the former ANBU had become associated with. In it's place, was the cold, fierce, glare of a seasoned shinobi, known throughout the five nations as one of the most vicious and savage assassins. It was a look that Koudo was not too proud of. One which he did everything in his power to prevent his sister from knowing about, as it gave notice to a deep and dark anger and hatred that he tried to keep hidden, but which existed nonetheless.

"A-ah, we..." Kotestsu and Izumo began stuttering in unison.

"Did you say Iron Country?" Koudo asked, ignoring the two older men's quivering.

"Yes." Izumo quickly replied.

"Hn." Koudo stared off into the distance with a very serious expression on his face as he considered the possibilities of whether his earlier feeling about something being wrong might actually mean something.

"Koudo-sensei." A tiny voice from his right stirred the former ANBU out of his thoughts, as he turned down to face a little boy looking up at him expectantly.

"Yes?" Koudo questioned, doing his best to smile warmly again, upon noticing the worried and scared expressions on his student's young faces.

"Was that the man?" the little boy timidly asked, though Koudo wasn't quite sure what it was he was talking about. "The one with the white eyes," the boy clarified.

A light shone in Koudo's eyes as it dawned on him what the boy was talking about. "Yes!" Koudo smiled wickedly, though in a playful manner that the rest of the children no longer looked frightened of him. "That was him!" Koudo exclaimed loudly. "Remember his face! Anyone who can make him cry or wet himself, gets an A for the semester! Got it?"

"Hai!" the group of kids loudly replied in unison, excited at the prospects of their sensei's challenge to them.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

**WRITERS NEEDED**: So, over on deviant art, we're holding a Collaboration Festival for the month of NOVEMBER. What we're doing is having writers and artist pair up and work together on a sort of illustrated story. Basically one person does a oneshot and the other illustrates either a scene, or the basic theme through either a fanart, or an AMV of what ever other visual medium they can come up with. Unfortunate we're kind of short of writers in the event so if anyone here is interested, please go to my profile page and it'll direct you to the journal that discussed this event. I hope some of you will consider signing up.


	5. Anger

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

**

* * *

**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**ANGER****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

'_Breath._' The blonde woman reminded herself, inhaling and exhaling deeply as she tried to calm the growing desire to push the large stack of paperwork off her cluttered desk.

She had been working on her temper lately, and the breathing helped. What did not help, however, was the agitated pacing she could hear on the other side of her door.

"SHIZUNE!" the blonde shouted, after it became apparent to her the breathing technically was only serving to fuel her anger instead of suppressing it.

"Y-yes, Lady Tsunade?" the nervous medic-nin stuttered as she poked her head in to the office.

"WHAT..." she began, before slowly taking another deep breath. "Did you need something?" the Hokage asked in a much softer tone.

"Ano..." the younger woman hesitated, slowly stepping into the room as she considered how best to word her next statement.

"Out with it!" Tsunade urged, tapping her chipped finger nails on the oak desk as she waited impatiently for the younger kunoichi to continue; mentally noting it was time to get a new manicure.

How long had it been since she had had a day off, she wondered. It seemed like months since she had stepped out from behind the pile of folders on her desk that seemed to magically multiply with each passing day; longer still since she had had a day just to herself. From the look on the younger woman's face, Tsunade feared she wouldn't be getting one any time soon.

"Well..." Shizune nervously approached the large oak desk.

Trying to keep calm, Tsunade distracted herself by clicking the top of the pen she held. She watched as the younger kunoichi toyed with her fingers; a nervous habit which she had picked up as a child. Back then, Tsunade had let it go, since the gesture helped her strengthen her finger muscles, which she had rationalized could come in handy with her medical-jutsus. At the moment, however, it was just an infuriating bad habit to watch. The one good thing about it, though, was that it brought her attention to the fact that Shizune was empty handed, which meant whatever it was she was there to discuss, at least it wasn't more paperwork.

"Ametsuchi-san is outside..." the younger woman finally informed the Hokage. (1)

"And?" Tsunade replied, growing more impatient by the moment. She did, of course, wonder what business the former ANBU could possibly have with her now that he was officially off of missions, as a newly certified academy instructor.

"Ano..." Shizune nervously popped her knuckles, hesitant to explain the younger man's presence and why exactly it was important enough to disrupt the Hokage's busy schedule.

"Shizune! I'm not in the mood for this today, so just tell me why he's here already!"

The medic-nin jumped at the Godaime's sudden outburst. Taking a few steps back, she nervously eyed the door. "He..." she nervously began, "he seems upset."

"He's not the only one." Tsunade stated in a warning tone as she tapped her fingers harder against the oak under them.

"Ah... it's just..." Shizune grew more nervous as she continued. "When I told him he couldn't see you because you were busy, he got angry and beat the guards that were helping me keep him out." Shizune hurriedly explained, inching her way closer to the door as she spoke.

"He. did. what?" Tsunade sternly questioned, grinding her teeth as she clenched her jaw tightly, doing her best to restrain herself as she imagined her guards' lifeless bodies punctured by various weapons.

Rationally, she knew the former ANBU was not so unreasonable that he would turn on his fellow shinobi, but, despite recent evidence to the contrary, the man had long been known for his short temper and violent propensities when enraged. Nonetheless, though she was unaware of what may have upset the man, Tsunade was not about to let this type of behavior pass.

"Get that idiot in here right now!" she bellowed angrily.

"Hai!" The young woman immediately rushed out the door, before quickly reemerging with the aforementioned shinobi in tow, giving Tsunade no time whatsoever to cool down from her livid rage.

Before he could say anything, the Hokage rose to her feet, grabbed the former ANBU by the collar and pulled him to her. "Shut it!" Tsunade yelled in his face, effectively cutting the younger man off before he could even open his mouth. "Just what the hell were you thinking?"she asked furiously. "I'll tell you what you were thinking," she continued without giving him time to reply to her question. "NOTHING! That's what you were thinking; absolutely NOTHING! What kind of example are you supposed to be setting for your students?" she shouted, releasing him as she angrily began a furious rampage, wildly pacing back and forth, shooting venomous glares at the younger man while reprimanding him for his actions, calling him a monster, deserving of his nickname, 'Hell on Earth', and a number of other various insults. She yelled and scolded for what seemed like hours, but was more likely a few minutes, releasing all the pent up rage she had been suppressing for months now as she reprimanded the man for his actions; knocking over files, lamps, even a bookshelf, all in her fiery rage.

When at last it seemed like she had screamed until her voice gave out, the former ANBU cleared his throat from besides the trembling medic-nin who, for purposes of self-preservation, had stayed perfectly still throughout the entire episode. "Is it true?" Koudo calmly asked.

Tsunade turned and glared the the younger man, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath from all the yelling she had done. "Is _what_ true?" she asked in a hissing whisper; her voice clearly having reached it's limits.

"You sent her to Iron Country." He stated, less of a question and more an accusation.

"So what if I did?" Tsunade glared challengingly, daring him to make one false move, just to give her an excuse to beat the life out of him. Were she not restricted by protocols and regulations, she would have had him over her knee like she had often done when he was a young boy under her care, and had misbehaved. How this disobedient and violent man could be the son of one of her most beloved childhood friends was beyond comprehension.

Grinding his teeth roughly, Koudo inhaled deeply. She could see he was angry by the way his jaw clenched and released. He was trying his best to suppress it, much like she had been doing earlier, but Tsunade could see it clearly in the smolder in his eyes as he glared down at her; cracking his knuckles as he balled his hands into fists. (2)

"You know _that woman_ is there." he spat venomously.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

FN

(1) Ametsuchi means "heaven and earth"... and as all Nejiten fans probably already know, Tenten's name means "Heaven" (or heavenly heaven)... and Koudo means "Earth" (also means "hell", hence the nickname on his profile "Hell on Earth").

(2) This is totally possible btw, I do it when I squeeze my fists tight enough.

CHECK OUT MY NEW PROFILE FOR KOUDO... LINK ON MY PROFILE PAGE!


	6. Memories

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

yes, it's a flashback chapter... i love flashback chapters :P

**

* * *

**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**MEMORIES****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

'_That old woman's here again_,' four-year-old Koudo thought to himself as he crouched down behind a large fern, watching as his father spoke to the blonde woman in their backyard.

It was the same woman who came by every time his father returned from a mission. She looked like a young, nice woman. Much younger than his middle-aged father, and his very young mother. That was just her appearance though. Koudo knew better. He had seen her many times before, and while she appeared young and beautiful on the outside, almost angelic, Koudo knew from experience, that she was a demon.

"Oi!" his father bellowed, jerking his head to gesture for Koudo to come out of the bushes. "Come greet your godmother!"

"God?" Koudo hesitantly approached his father and the blonde demon woman. "How is she a god?"

"Hahaha!" His father's hearty laugh filled the air surrounding them.

Koudo wasn't sure why his father was laughing, but he didn't really care. He was just happy to hear it. It wasn't often the little boy heard the sound of laughter. In his short life, Koudo only had a few people he interacted with. One, was his father, who was hardly ever home since he was constantly leaving on long journeys. Another, was his grandmother -his father's mother- who was a sickly old, bed-ridden woman, who rarely spoke and even more rarely laughed. The third, was his mother, who, despite living with him, rarely spent much time at his side. She wasn't really the laughing type; she rarely even smiled, except when his father was around. For some reason, though, Koudo never found her smiles to be warming. They felt fake and forced, but his father never noticed, so Koudo assumed that maybe it was just him.

The only other person Koudo knew, besides his family, was the blonde demon lady. He'd never heard her laugh before, but he certainly didn't want to. Though he was young and didn't know too much, he understood enough to know it would probably be terrifying to see the woman laughing. He was sure it would closely resemble the sound of a witch's cackle, like the ones in the stories his father sometimes told him.

"No, no, no." His father shook his head. "You've got it all wrong," he stated, as his laughter began to slowly fade. "She's not a god," his father smirked. "Though she does have some god-like abilities," he chuckled again, looking at the bemused blonde demon woman.

"Warai," the blonde demon woman cracked her knuckles as she clenched her fists, calling out to his father with an amused, yet slightly annoyed, expression. (**1**) "Why's this kid always staring at me when I come over?" She glared down at Koudo.

"Ah, that..." his father hesitated, taking a few, subtle, steps away from the woman as he rubbed his thumb along his jawline pensively. Of course, he knew why Koudo stared at the demon woman each time she visited. It was from him, that the young boy had learned about witches and demons, who, in most of his fathers stories, were blonde women with extraordinary strength and commanding voices. The first time he had seen the blonde demon woman, Koudo had immediately know she was one of them. It didn't help, either, that almost every time she came to visit, his father and her would end up arguing and yelling at each other; which was probably why they often stayed in the backyard instead of going in the house and disturbing Koudo's mother and ailing grandmother. "He is probably just stunned by your incredible beauty, Tsunade-san." His father smiled warmly, grabbing hold of Koudo, who quickly hid behind his father's leg.

"Tch," the blonde demon woman scoffed, rolling her eyes incredulously.

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"Whatever," Tsunade groaned irritatedly as she walked over toward the living room couch and took a seat next to the timid black-haired teenage girl that had come with her. "Do what you want, but I'm warning you it's stupid to take on so many dangerous missions back to back like you do," the blonde woman said to her childhood friend.

Eight-year-old Koudo walked over to his godmother and placed a tray of beverages on a small coffee table, as she and his father discussed whatever affairs had brought the woman to visit their home so late in the night. The girl who had come along with her, remained almost motionless, as she hugged a bag of what appeared to be travel gear.

"Thank you Koudo-kun," his father said, smiling affectionately at the young boy.

Koudo returned the smile, before turning to his godmother and politely bowing. "Good evening, Tsunade-sama," he greeted the blonde woman, nodding at the unfamiliar girl.

"Hello, Koudo-kun," she warmly smiled at the boy.

Though he had long since abandoned the notion that the blonde woman was a witch or demon, whenever Koudo saw the woman smile, he felt scared. Her smile, though faint and brief, was always full of pain and sorrow. It made the young boy frightened to think someone as scary as the 'demon woman' he had always feared, could actually be hurt. But what he feared the most was that the smile of his father, which he loved so much, could one day become like hers. He did not want that.

"Where is your mother?" Tsunade asked him.

"She went out for a walk," he quietly responded, not at all finding the fact that his very pregnant mother had decided to go out so late into the evening, despite the fact that the blonde woman's expression told him it was likely something most people would consider unusual. But that was just how his mother was. She often went out for long walks, even in the middle of the night. Sometimes he wondered if maybe she just wanted to get away from him, since she rarely ever spent much time with him in the first place. That thought made his chest hurt a little, but Koudo tried not to dwell on it.

Though his mother did not spend too much time in his company, Koudo still had his father. His wonderful, caring, kind, smiling dad...

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"Dada," baby Tenten cooed as her older brother brought the picture of their father closer for her to see.

"Yup, that's dada," Koudo smiled brightly, his cheeks hurting from how happy he felt, despite the always lingering sorrow in his heart since their father's death two years earlier.

It still hurt him deeply that the man who had been his one and only source of happiness and joy had been brutally killed on his return from what was supposed to have been a simple information gathering mission. The days that followed the discovery, the young boy had fallen into a deep depression. He had hidden himself away in his room, where no one bothered to even look for him. His mother didn't care, his grandmother was too sick, and the blonde 'demon woman' had previously taken off with her young apprentice, disappearing from the village shortly before his father's death. Koudo had felt as if he had been completely abandoned. And a little over a month later, when his sister was born, he was truly abandoned...

"Mama?" baby Tenten looked up at her brother curiously, as if asking where the picture of their mother was.

"There is no mama," he coldly replied, losing his smile at the mention of that woman.

His little sister continued to look at him curiously, her big bright eyes moistening, almost as if she understood his pain. Tenten pouted, attempting to wrap her tiny arms around his neck as he held her close to his chest. "Mama," she firmly replied, pounding her small fist on his chest as she did.

"Haha." Koudo chuckled. "Yes, I'll be your mama," he smiled down warmly, silently promising the girl he would always protect her and cherish her the way a mother should; not at all the way their real mother would have, had she not abandoned them a few days after Tenten was born.

"Shouldn't you be heading out now?" A raspy coughing voice called out from the other room.

"Ah, yeah." The boy nodded, remembering that he had been scheduled to go on his first ever mission now that he was a genin. "I'll be back as soon as I'm done, ok Tennie?" he smiled at his baby sister, walking over to the room, where their bed-ridden grandmother called over to him with her finger.

"Your dad would be so proud of you," the older woman toothlessly grinned, planting a soft, dry kiss on the boy's forehead as he bent down to say goodbye.

"I'll be back soon, granny," he smiled meekly, before turning to place Tenten in the crib located against the nearest wall.

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"Hurry back, okay?" the six-year-old girl ordered her brother as they said their goodbyes outside of the Konoha Academy.

It was her first day of school. Though he had been gone on a mission the previous day, Koudo had somehow made it to be there for the momentous occasion. Unfortunately, he had another mission scheduled for later that day, so he could only be there to see his baby sister go in, but would not be able to celebrate the event until the week after, when he returned from his latest mission. Neither of them, however, felt much like celebrating.

Their grandmother, who had suffered from an illness for many years, had finally passed away the previous month. The two siblings were just beginning to get used to the idea that the old woman who had occupied the room in the far north corner of their home would no longer be there with them. She had scarcely moved at all since as far back as Koudo could remember, but despite her ailment, the old woman had always been gentle and kind to them. She had always tried to remind them that they were loved, and that despite being orphans, they at least had each other.

"Have a good day at school Tennie-chan!" Koudo yelled as he waved excitedly at the bun-haired girl, to which she cheerfully smiled back, waving with equal enthusiasm as she walked backwards into a long haired boy who turned to glare at her for having caused him to bump into another boy with thick bushy eyebrows.

"Bye bye Koudo-nii-san!" Tenten waved, disappearing into the classroom to start the first day in her journey to becoming a strong kunoichi.

"Like that demon woman..." the fourteen-year-old boy smirked, remembering a certain blonde woman he had feared in his childhood.

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"Grrrr" sixteen-year-old Koudo quietly growled.

"What's wrong with you?" the masked ANBU crouched down next to him asked, as the two of them hid behind a distant wall, observing the group of weapons traffickers during some kind of deal-making with a group of known mercenaries.

"Nothing," Koudo whisperingly hissed.

Behind his white porcelain mask, however, his face betrayed the anger he felt in his heart as his eyes remained firmly fixed on a dark-haired woman in heavily layered clothing, standing at the back of the group of arms dealers.

There was no question in his mind who that woman was.

He knew her.

He knew her from his past. He knew her from his memories. He knew her from the nightmares that plagued him on an almost nightly basis. He knew her from the face of the girl who was his entire world.

'_Mother,_' Koudo angrily growled in his head, staring at _that woman_ with more hatred and rage than he had ever previously felt. At that moment, he was finally confirming what he had long ago suspected...

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

**TBC...**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

_**

* * *

**_

(1) Warai – the name of Koudo and Tenten's father... it means laugh/laughter/smile.


	7. Merchant of Death

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

**

* * *

**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**MERCHANT OF DEATH****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

The mission was simple: observe and do not engage. The target, a small group of arms dealers, whose principle operation consisted of trafficking weapons to various terrorist organizations throughout the five shinobi nations. Recently, there had been many rumors that the group had been affiliated with the Merchant of Death, an infamous warlord that had been known to have sold weapons to all sides during all three of the great shinobi wars. How that was possible, considering the first ninja war was nearly a century ago, no one knew, but it only served to add to his infamy.

According to some, he was a dark spirit; a demon. A diabolical creature who thrived on the bloodshed of man. A devil who feasted on the suffering of others, and used his minions to create chaos wherever there was fear and uncertainty. He was the bringer of doom. The lord of despair. Wherever he went, death and destruction followed; and all that he touched died at his hands. He, was Death itself.

Of course, those were just rumors. Shinobi knew better. They knew that magic and ghosts and demons did not exist.

To those of the shinobi world, this warlord was nothing more than a man who took advantage of the suffering of others to make a profit. One who created war upon war. He would send his followers out to cause unrest wherever they could. They would start battles and wars at every corner of the world. Some would kill and innocent and blame it on enemy of that victim to start a war between both sides. Others would specialize in spying on major and minor hidden villages, sometimes even for years, gaining inside knowledge of the workings of their shinobi, and later selling the information to enemy nations. They would go so far as to create entire lives in the villages they lived in, all for the purpose of causing chaos and war.

"..." Koudo stared angrily at the all too familiar figure in front of him.

He knew what it meant. He knew why she was there, and what she had done. If not for the fact that he had torn her from his heart years earlier, it would have crushed him to see _that woman_ there.

"So that's your type," a muffled voice from his right, startled Koudo out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" He turned to face the long, black-haired ANBU standing next to him, far from the arms dealers they were assigned to observe. "What?" he whispered, giving his newly appointed team leader a confused look from behind the mask.

"And here I thought you were a lolicon with a sister-complex." The other masked man uncharacteristically chuckled softly under his porcelain mask.

"Hmph." Koudo smirked under his mask at the younger man who was now his captain. "I don't want to hear that coming from a shotacon with a brother-complex, Uchiha."(1)

"Well," the young captain began, tilting his head to the side as if scrutinizing the woman from behind his mask. "She _is_ pretty."

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"Very pretty," Lee nodded his head up and down as if agreeing with himself. "But..." he stopped, squinting his eyes tightly as he continued observing the dark-haired woman in the heavily layered black clothing through his binoculars. "She appears familiar, does she not?" he questioned the other three members of his team who were sitting around him on different branches of the same tree.

Grabbing the binoculars from the younger green beast, Gai stared out to the forest attempting to see what his young pupil was talking about. Above them, Neji, with his Byakugan, had already determined that the woman in question did in fact appear familiar.

She had long dark brown hair, untied and reaching the small of her back. Her skin, though mostly covered in the thick layers of her robes, appeared pale and ashen. Her face was mostly covered, except for her eyes and the bridge of her nose. But under the deep blood-red scarf that covered her face, Neji could see what she looked like. And he knew exactly _who_ she looked like.

"What are you talking about Lee?" Tenten asked, after taking the binoculars from Gai. Why Lee had a pair in the first place when they had Neji for that, no one seemed to question. "She's completely covered in robes, she doesn't look like anyone," the bun-haired kunoichi scoffed, returning the optical instrument back to her big-eyed teammate.

"But Tenten-san," Lee protested, taking hold of the binoculars as the weapons mistress hopped back up to the branch above him.

"There_ is_ something familiar about her..." Gai slowly replied as he rubbed his chin pensively. "As if I have seen her before..."

"Tenten is correct," Neji uncharacteristically cut in before Gai could remember; though it was unlikely given how bad the older man's memory was. "She is covered in clothes, you cannot possibly determine if she is familiar or not," he hurriedly replied, though in reality he knew exactly who the woman reminded them of. He also knew what it could mean if the resembles was more than just a mere coincidence. "It couldn't be..." he quietly mused to himself.

In the year since they had begun dating, Neji had learned from the bun-haired kunoichi, more about her past and her family. He knew about Koudo from the many run-ins he had with the older shinobi, as well as the investigation Neji had conducted on him. But all that he knew about Tenten's parents was that which he heard heard from the girl herself. He knew of her father's death, and he knew of her mother's disappearance. What he didn't know, was how or why. He didn't ask though. He knew it was a sensitive subject, one which she didn't know much about herself, as both incidents had occurred around the time of her birth. He did know one other thing, though. Something which she had never directly told him, but he learned relatively soon after she had begun sharing more about her parents...

She loved them.

Tenten didn't know either of her parents, but she loved them nonetheless.

Koudo had earnestly shared endless stories about their brave and loving father since the time of her birth. Their mother, however, he had hidden all traces of; refusing to speak of her ever. As a result, Tenten had gone out to search for her. She would ask neighbors, grocers, teachers... anyone who knew anything, to ask that they share stories about her mother. She had concocted a story in her head that her mother was similar to the fifth Hokage; a reason for which Tenten had grown to admire Tsunade in her early adolescence. Some how, she had convinced herself that their mother had not left her by choice, but rather because she was forced to leave from the pain of losing the man she loved. That she had been driven mad by the grief and had been too guilt-ridden to return once the pain subsided.

As he watched the black-robed woman in the distance, however, Neji shuttered to think what the truth might actually be. Though he wanted it not to be true, Lee was right, the woman bore a striking resemblance to someone they all knew very well.

"She," Tenten pointed at the woman, having retaken the binoculars back from Lee. "Is the new Merchant of Death!"(2)

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

**TBC...**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

_**

* * *

**_

A/N : not too sure about the flow at the end here, but it's 2am... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 

(1) Yes, that means Itachi... the timeline fits!... Koudo is 16 and Itachi is 13, recently appointed to Captain. Koudo recently joined. And for anyone who doesn't know what Shotacon and Lolicon mean... good for you XD... I had to include this cos the mental image of Koudo and Itachi gushing over their respective siblings was just too amusing... I even began shipping them together ;p hahah.

(2) The Dread Pirate Roberts! Muahahah ;p


	8. Carpeted Floors

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update... I kind of had a block. I hope the next one won't take as long.

* * *

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**CARPETED FLOORS****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

The room was silent as the blonde haired woman slowly tapped her long finger nails on the carved oak wood that was her desk. She stared at the four shinobi standing nervously in the center of the office for what seemed like an unnecessarily long time. Each of them shifted on their feet, looking anywhere but at her. Despite being know for their fearlessness, none of them dared to return her gaze. Though it wasn't really a gaze she had fixed on the four of them, but rather a glare. An angry, seething glare. One accompanied by silence, which was uncharacteristic of her, and undoubtedly was the reason the four of them were so terribly shaken. Or perhaps it was the fact that they were embarrassed by the state in which they appeared before her. Whatever the case, she didn't much care for excuses. What she did care for, was who would be made to pay.

"Explain!" Tsunade demanded of the four shinobi standing in front of her desk. Next to her, the nervous medic-nin tried to remain as silent as possible, already knowing her mistress' temper.

"Well," the oldest of the four, cleared his throat as he stood to attention in front of his Hokage. "The mission was a success. We were able to determine that the group we were watching are in fact allied with the Merchant of Death, who appears to have taken the guise of a beautiful woman,"

"Gai!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her fist down on the table hard. In a stern voice, as she stared at the man, she said, "I appreciate the narration of your report, but _must_ I remind you that the Merchant of Death is a _title_ that is passed down and _not_ a demon who can change its form?"

All five of the others present flinched as she yelled at the man, and then proceeded to scold him for being so childish and believing such ridiculous nonsense. Gai, shaken but not beaten, merely nodded and promised he wouldn't listen so much to unrealistic rumors any more, as well as vowing to clean the Hokage monument as a self imposed punishment.

Shaking her head and ignoring his over the top antics, Tsunade turned to his former students, eyeing them curiously, with just a small hint of annoyance. "That's besides the point. What I want explained is this!" she replied, pointing at the three males standing in front of her soaked to the bone, dripping some kind of liquid, which she could only pray was water, all over her freshly cleaned carpets. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Oh." Gai sheepishly grinned, apparently a little embarrassed that even he had gotten wet by whatever it was that had led them to be in such a state.

"We were attacked!" Lee, who was standing next to his sensei, cheerfully proclaimed. He bore a wide smile on his eager face, a contradiction considering what he'd just said.

"Attacked?" Tsunade and Shizune repeated in unison, both obviously thinking the same thing: if they were attacked, why did the two green buffoons seem as if they were happy about it?

"Hai!" Lee nodded, falling into battle pose, the cheerful smile on his face never wavering. "Upon entering the village, we were attacked by all sides!" he explained, fighting invisible enemies around the room as he did so; reenacting the 'attack' in Tsunade's office.

He circled the room. Kicking. Punching. Running. His narration of the event was given in as quick a manner as his movements as he maneuvered around the room, just barely missing breaking anything of value. Though, at times, he did knock over a few piles of paper and the occasional potted plant. But none of this much mattered to the blonde woman. What did matter was the fact that in his wild movements, the overly enthusiastic chunin was muddying up her office carpet even more than it had already gotten since the four of them walked into the room to report back from their mission.

"Enough!" Tsunade yelled out, stilling the boy at last.

"Lee." The one kunoichi on their team groaned, worried looking over at the Hokage as she pulled the overly enthusiastic boy back in line, knocking him on the head to tell him to stop it. The bun-haired kunoichi then turned to the two other women and smiled apologetically. "It was just water balloons." she explained, standing noticeably dryer than her three other teammates.

Tsunade remained silent for a moment as she eyed the four shinobi and carefully took in everything she had now learned. "Water balloons..." she mused quietly, her mind immediately running through the limited possibilities. After contemplating what it could mean, she turned to her right and exchanged knowing looks with Shizune. The two women nodded, finally understanding what had occurred. "Get him in here to clean this up." Tsunade instructed the nervous medic, before turning back to the other shinobi and dismissing them to let them go home and change out of their wet clothes, as the last thing she needed was a group of sick and out of commission shinobi.

"Idiot godson!"

**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Evil old hag!" Koudo growled as he walked out of the Hokage mansion. "As if I don't already have enough work to do at the academy, she forces me to scrub her carpets clean?" he growled frustrated into the air.

Of course being the Hokage, it wasn't as if he could refuse, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

"Why the hell do I have to clean up wet carpets when I didn't even do it?"

He turned up and cursed at the night sky. The sun had still been up when he had been called away from the academy, but already it had long since set, as he spent countless hours scrubbing the carpeted floors of his godmother's office; repotting plants and filing numerous papers that had been scattered over the muddy carpets. She didn't even have the decency to tell him why he was there, just started screaming at him the moment he walked in, yelling something about balloons and crazy green idiots.

Of course Koudo knew better than to question the old demon woman, but he didn't understand what any of her rant had to do with him.

"ehm." A quiet cough to his left alerted the former ANBU to the fact that he was no longer alone.

"Oh," Koudo smirked, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he spotted the lone white figure coming out of the shadows. "You're back early," he smirked.

It made sense now. Before being brutishly escorted to the Hokage mansion by three ANBUs, Koudo's students had been trying to tell him something. He hadn't been able to hear them out because his evil old hag of a godmother had ordered him to come to her office immediately, but now it all made sense.

"So they got you huh?" he teased the younger man, wishing it had been a few hours earlier and he could have witnessed seeing him soaked from his student's water balloon pelting. "They've been planning it for days now, ever since you guys left." Koudo paused, still smirking at the other shinobi. "I can't promise you that was all just water," he chuckled, though of course he knew it was just water, despite how much he had tried to convince his students to use other, _warmer,_ liquids.

"We need to talk," Neji's somber tone indicated to Koudo that the younger man was clearly not there to talk about pranks.

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

**TBC...**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

_**

* * *

**_

A/N: mmmmm... well I could have kept going, I wrote 95% of this a few weeks ago, but couldn't seem to get it to work to move the story along until just now, and I didn't even do that much (just added the first paragraph and the last line and filled in a few extra descriptions here and there). I'll start working on the next chapter tomorrow, I think I actually know where this is going now.


	9. Lets Talk

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

A/N: I've read it over a few times, but I haven't slept in 4 days (tonight looks like number 5)... insomnia... anyway I'm planning something for x-mas so I probably won't update this one until after that, but you'll all be happy to know, I have almost everything plotted out already so it should start moving a lot faster now XD

* * *

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**LETS TALK****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"We need to talk." Neji firmly asserted as he stood in front of his girlfriend's older brother.

The two of them were hardly on friendly terms. In fact, ever since the first day they had met, neither of them had been particularly fond of the other. But one thing Neji had always known about the older man, was that beneath the teasing, goofy facade he put on, Koudo was a serious and dedicated shinobi. Another thing Neji knew, was the the older man loved Tenten and would do anything to protect her and make her happy. Anything, including lie to her.

Unlike most people, who believed Koudo and Tenten had been orphaned as young children -shortly after the bun-haired girl's birth- Neji was one of the few who was privy to the truth. The kunoichi her self had told him that she had a mother. A woman who had abandoned them shortly after Tenten had been born, leaving them to be raised by a bed-ridden paternal grandmother. Though in reality it had been eight-year-old Koudo who had been left to raise them.

In the weapons mistresses mind, her mother had been a woman who had been forced to leave her side, for reasons nobody knew. After their most reason mission, however, Neji believed he might know. And he had a sneaking suspicion, especially after remembering the worried look on his face before team Gai took off on their mission, that Koudo might know something as well.

"Talk?" the former ANBU seriously replied. He held a look of apprehension in his eyes, but there was curiosity as well, as if he anticipated the seriousness with which Neji was there to speak with him about. "Don't tell me you're going to ask me for her hand," the older man momentarily fell back into his teasing persona. "Because I absolutely refuse to-"

"Mother." Neji uncharacteristically cut the older man off, having no desire to play their usual game of cat and mouse. He didn't particularly feel like being toyed with at the moment.

"Are you calling me mommy?" Koudo smirked, but there was a hint of nervousness in his tone that betrayed his unease. He knew. Deep down, he knew what came next. "You saw her?" he asked, after a moment's silence. His voice was low and cautious, as if he feared the word itself; feared the ears that might hear it.

Neji remained silent, but nodded in response.

This was what they needed to talk about. About the woman Team Gai had observed for two weeks. The woman who dressed in heavily layered clothing. The woman whose face was always covered, but which Neji, with his byakugan eyes, could clearly see. The woman he had spend fourteen days observing. Whom he had not wanted to believe was who he thought. The woman whose face he had searched over and over, wishing he didn't see the same face he knew and loved in hers.

"The Merchant of Death." Koudo chillingly stated. It wasn't a question, he knew exactly who Neji was talking about. "You know?" he asked, turning to watch the Hyuga's expression, as if questioning just how much the younger man might be aware of.

"She was a spy," Neji replied.

Though it was still only a theory in his mind, the Hyuga had pieced together a rough idea of what it all meant. A woman who came from a foreign land and had married a high ranking Leaf Shinobi. A woman who had abandoned her children, shortly after the mysterious death of her husband. A woman who later showed up, the apparent leader of a group of arms dealers.

There was little room for doubt.

"Yeah." Koudo nodded. His jaw tensed with anger, as he stood staring at the dirt at his feet. "She killed our father," he furiously added, as if explaining to the Hyuga his sudden rage. "She used him," he added. His fists were clenched as tightly as his jaw; the knuckles turning white with anger.

"She resembles Tenten," Neji stated. There was a silent question in his words. A question he had long wondered. Why was it, if Koudo loved his sister so much, he had abandoned her years ago, spending no more than a few days a year with his beloved Tennie-chan.

"Tenten resembles her," Koudo corrected, solemnly nodding, as if replying to Neji's unasked question. Telling him that despite his love for the bun-haired girl, the fact that she looked so much like the woman he hated, had driven him away. Had pushed him towards the farthest corners of the known world to keep only the image of the child he knew in his heart, and not allow it to be replaced by the face of the woman Tenten had grown into; the same face as their mothers.

"But she's not her," Neji replied, staring straight into the older man's eyes, unwavering in determination to get that important fact through to the former ANBU.

The two remained in silence for what seemed like an eternity, but was more likely no more than a few minutes. Finally, Koudo nodded, and gestured, with a nod of his head, for Neji to follow him. They walked, quietly through the village streets, moving further and further away from the main streets, away from where anyone who might know them could come upon them and their conversation. At last, they arrived in a secluded part of the forest. Koudo took a seat on a boulder, near a running river. The spot, of course, was chosen specifically for the fact that the running water would serve to deafen their words to foreign ears.

"Does she know?" Koudo asked, once he had taken a seat. For a brief moment, Neji was certain he saw a glimmer of despair in the older shinobi's eyes, but it was quickly hidden. "Did she see her?"

"She saw her." Neji confirmed, nodding his head as he moved over towards a fallen log in front of Koudo's rock and took a seat. "But she doesn't know," he quickly added, knowing that that was what the other man was really asking.

"Good." Koudo nodded slowly, relieved to hear it. "She has this fantasy..." he slowly began, sounding somewhat choked up. It wasn't clear if it was because of the fantasy itself, or the fact that he knew it wasn't true. "Tenten thinks..."

"I know." Neji cut him off. He was well aware of the fantasy the kunoichi had concocted about her mother. He also knew that it probably wasn't true. At least, he'd always suspected it since first hearing the story. And after seeing the familiar looking woman fourteen days earlier, Neji was certain that now he knew...

"I never wanted her to find out." Koudo sighed, leaning his head back as he did. He continued to sigh for a while longer, then stopped and sat back upright. "She was never supposed to go to the Land of Iron!" he adamantly asserted.

At this, the Hyuga's curiosity was peeked. He had come to Koudo with the intent of getting as much information out of him, as well as to inform the older man of what he had become aware of. Neji wasn't sure how much Koudo was willing to tell him, but he had been hopeful, given that they both held a common interest in protecting the bun-haired girl, that Koudo would be willing to share what he knew.

"What do you mean?" the white-eyed prodigy asked. "Does Lady Tsunade know?" he questioned, assuming that was the only possible way Koudo could so confidently believe in his words.

"No," the former ANBU shook his head. "She knows some, but not all."

He then went on to clarify that while the Hokage had long since been aware of the fact that Koudo and Tenten's mother lived, she didn't not know the circumstances behind that fact. Tsunade knew that Koudo had specialized in information gathering, despite having a greater aptitude for assassination, because he wanted to search for his mother. No one, however, knew that Koudo had found his mother _before_ going into the Intel department, and had only left his position in the assassins sector once he had already found out what kind of woman his mother had been. He had been searching her out with the hope of one day finding an opening to take advantage of and take his revenge. He also worked to keep tabs on her, and prevent Tenten from ever running into the woman, not that Tenten would really recognize her since she never really met their mother except for immediately after her birth, and of course she'd never remember that. All this, however, the Hokage knew nothing about. The only thing Koudo had ever told her was that their mother was alive, living somewhere in Iron Country, and he had requested that Tenten never be sent on a mission there. A promise, which Tsunade had made to him, and, until recently, had always kept.

"Wouldn't it be wise to just tell her?" Neji asked, referring to the Hokage and not Tenten, of course; though in the back of his mind, the Hyuga did wonder if whether protecting the kunoichi at the expense of lying to her was such a good idea.

Koudo eyed the younger man for a moment, seemingly contemplating what the prodigy was proposing. "You know what the best kind of secret is, Hyuga?"

At his question, Neji shook his head in response. He had no idea what the best kind of secret was, or what the older man was even getting at.

"The best kind of secret is the kind where only _one_ person knows the privileged information." Koudo paused, waiting for his words to sink in before he continued. "The second best kind of secret, is the kind where only _two_ people know the privileged information," he paused again, waiting to see that the younger man understood him. "The third best... doesn't exist." Koudo paused longer this time, allowing for his words to hang in the air, waiting to see if the Hyuga could grasp what he was being told. "When more than two people know a secret, it's no longer a secret. In no time at all, what was meant to be kept hidden, will come to be heard by the exact person it should never have reached."

"In other words," Neji began, attempting to sum up what it was the other shinobi was trying to tell him. "You kept it from everyone else so that Tenten would never know."

"Exactly." Koudo nodded, but then he stopped. The small smile that had crept up on his face at seeing that the young prodigy wasn't called a genius just for show, and had actually understood what he had been arguing, disappeared. In it's place, a stern, yet slightly pained, expression marred his usually cheerful face. "Well... that and..." the former ANBU nervously cleared his throat before continuing. "Our father was a good man. A good shinobi. He didn't deserve what he got. And he most certainly does not deserve to have his reputation tarnished by _that woman._"

And that was it. The end of their discussion. Having said what little he was willing to share, and gotten what he needed, the former ANBU stood from his boulder and stared down at the younger man still sitting on the rock, contemplating what he now knew. "Can I trust this will stay between us?"

Neji looked up at the other shinobi. For a moment he considered saying that would not be a part of the older man's deception. But then realized, he already was. "Yes."

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

**TBC...**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_


	10. New Intel

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

A/N: It's a bit short, but I can't put it together with the next chapter... the next chapter should be out shortly though... maybe tonight or tomorrow.

* * *

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_** NEW INTEL****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

"It doesn't make sense, the information has to be wrong."

Tapping her fingernails impatiently on the oak desk, the blond kage scanned the papers in front of her. It was the seventh time she read them. And the seventh time she questioned the much too obvious conclusions. For months, Tsunade's shinobi had been looking into some suspicious movements throughout the five nations. They had been looking into a group of mercenary arms dealers that had been around since the beginning of the ninja world. The group had been relatively active throughout their entire existence; the driving force behind many a civil war and insurrection. But for the most part, their power and influence had seemed to diminish over the last few decades since the third ninja war.

Or so it had seemed...

But if the information Tsunade was currently holding in her hands was to be accepted as reliable, which she had little reason to believe otherwise, the group, and their infamous leader, the Merchant of Death, had only been biding their time, waiting for a moment when the shinobi community was at it's weakest. A moment, perhaps, like immediately after the fourth ninja war.

"This can't be good," the blonde woman groaned as she put the papers back down again.

It didn't seem likely that the enemies numbers could amass to the ones purported in the documents, but the truth was there was no way of knowing for certain. The Merchant of Death, and all of his followers, had always been clouded in mystery and deception. To him, war was almost an art form. Tactically, it made sense that he would make his move now, in the moments after the whole of the shinobi world had been devastated in it's battle against Uchiha Madara and his forces.

Though they had been victorious, it had not come without a price. Many of the hidden villages were down to half their men, or less. If not for the peace treaties that immediately followed, the war would have continued as the less devastated villages took advantage of the more heavily injured nations, and allies once more became enemies. Thankfully the five kages had thought to prevent this before it occurred. And having fought side by side with shinobi of other nations, under one uniting symbol, it was quickly accepted by all the shinobi of the five nations that they would protect and defend each other from the smaller villages that might wish to take the opportunity to strike at them. But the fact that it remained a perfect moment for such an attack did not go unnoticed. It was for that very reason Tsunade had been investigating any and all known threats. She hadn't, however, expected anything of the magnitude which her men had discovered.

"This can't be good," she repeated, once more picking up the documents to read through them for the eighth time since she had received them over an hour ago.

It wasn't that she expected them to change. But there had to be some clue, some hint, as to the truth. The information had been compiled from the mission reports of over two dozen shinobi teams that had been sent out to various villages throughout the five shinobi nations. All of them had confirmed dealings between the Merchant of Death and various smaller militant groups that were being recruited for a simultaneous attack on the ninja world. If the reports were to be believed, it meant the Merchant of Death intended to mount a full-scale attack on the weakened nations.

It all made perfect sense. Except for one thing... it was too obvious.

In the past, the Merchant of Death acted behind a veil of secrecy, it made no sense that he would now take such overt actions. Though it had recently been established that 'Merchant of Death' was a title and not one person, it could be reasoned that the new holder of said title had different tactics and that perhaps that was the reason for such a shift. But it still didn't make sense. Even if there was a new Merchant of Death, a woman, if Gai was to be believed, it made no sense to change tactics that had worked for over a century. There had to be something more...

A sudden knock at the door prevented the Hokage from completing her thoughts on the matter. "Come in." Upon her order, the door quickly opened, and in walked the bun-haired girl that had been in Tsunade's office only moments before the papers had arrived. "Did you need something?"

Tenten walked into the office, holding a long manila envelope in her hands. "I just came to drop these off," she stated, waving the envelope in front of her face.

Tsunade furrowed her brow, in part because she wasn't quite sure what the kunoichi had brought her, but mostly because it didn't really matter, it just meant more paperwork, and Tsunade hated paperwork. "Fine, just leave them there," she shrugged, pointing to a corner of the desk dismissively.

"It's the mission report," Tenten informed the older woman. "The original was wet so I rewrote them."

"Ah." Tsunade nodded, holding her hand out to indicate she changed her mind and wanted to see them immediately. It was still paperwork, but since Team Gai had been sent out to spy on another of the Merchant of Death's teams, it made those specific papers of priority. "Thank you," she smiled at the younger kunoichi appreciatively.

She always did like Tenten. A smart girl, a sensible and responsible girl. A poor girl trapped amongst lunatics, both at home and at work.

"A ray of sunshine amongst an otherwise idiotic storm."

"Huh?" Tenten looked down at her hokage questioningly after the older woman had spoken her thoughts aloud.

"It's nothing," Tsunade chuckled, shaking her head slowly.

"Okay." Tenten smiled back wearily, clearly thinking her sensei was beginning to rub off on the blonde kage. "Well," she began, turning to leave as she'd now completed what she had come to do. "If there's nothing else,"

"Wait," Tsunade called out before the younger girl could leave. There _was_ something else. And though the girl had only recently returned from a mission with her team, she didn't appeared tired, and she was dressed and still packed for a mission. "I need a message delivered to Suna, can you leave at once?"

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

**TBC...**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_


	11. The Demons Lair

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean a lot to me. :D**

A/N: I feel like the title is a bit too ominous for the chapter, but I decided to keep it ;p hope you enjoy the chapter XD

* * *

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**THE DEMONS LAIR****  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

No war was ever won in haste.

That was a fact. Success and victory depended on patience as much as strategy.

But it was not the shinobi war that had just ended out in the battlefields, nor the war that was brewing under the surface that she was dealing with now. No, it was a war all of her own. A personal war. One which had long been overdue. One that should not have been necessary.

And it wouldn't have been, if not for the decrepit old man, whose antiquated thoughts on the worth and value of women belonged in this century about as much as he did.

But he was their leader.

A man who had earned his title through birth, and who rightfully should have passed it down years earlier, before his body had begun to whither and decay. Before he had been confined to his bed, hidden away from the outside world, to protect the image of that title.

"Merchant of Death, tch" the dark-haired woman in the heavily layered black clothing, scoffed under her breath as she walked out of her room.

She had put up with so much over the years. She had done everything short of giving her life, waiting for a reward that had been promised but never seemed to come. And why? Because the old man who had promised it, was a chauvinistic pig who undervalued her simply because she had been born the wrong gender.

"Rei-sama," a timid looking brat stood up from besides her. (1)

The flat cushion outside her door, surrounded by a deck of playing cards, informed her that the boy had been waiting for some time. Let them wait, Rei thought. The boy would soon be serving her, waiting was the least he could do.

"Takai-dono has requested that I inform you he would like to meet you in his chambers immediately," the young boy meekly stated, stumbling through his awkward phrasing as he attempted to keep up to the woman's long and powerful strides. (2)

"Hmph," Rei rolled her eyes, quickly turning on her heels without a word, as she grudgingly complied. It wasn't like she had much of a choice. Even in his state, the old man's words were law.

Quickly, she walked the bare corridors, passed a number of guards, with the timid child jogging closely behind her. They eventually arrived at the door of the old man's bedroom, where the boy informed the two burly men standing in front that their master had requested Rei's presence.

"What is it?" the woman non-too-politely asked.

She had long since given up the pretense that she held any respect or love for the man. His aging and feeble mind wouldn't have been able to tell the difference anyway.

"Rei," the old man spoke in a gravely voice as he waved to her to come to his side. "Rei."

Sighing, the dark-haired woman rolled her eyes again as she slowly walked over to his bed, thinking how easy it would be to do away with him then and there. And she _could_ do it. She had a kunai in her right boot, it would be so easy to slit his throat and take his title by force.

But no. That wouldn't work.

She needed his men, as much as she needed his title. And while the men did obey her and treat her with the respect deserving of her status, Rei knew they would not come if their master were murdered at her hand.

"I'm here," she replied, brushing the old man's hand away as he tired to reach out for her.

"Rei," he called her name again. Resting his back against the headboard, the old man's eyes were closed as he began clearing his throat to speak. "The men have been talking," he began. "They say there is peace."

"There is-"

"Peace is not profitable!" he opened his eyes and glared at the woman, as he yelled, interrupting her like he so often did.

"I am aware this," Rei bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from lashing out. Patience, she reminded herself.

"Well?" the old man stared at her intently, saying nothing more while he waited for her to explain how she would fix the situation.

"We have multiple operations in progress at the moment," she began before he once more cut her off by waving his hand impatiently in front of his face.

"I don't care about the details, just tell me how you intend to make money when there's talk of peace in the shinobi world!"

He was trying her patience. But she wasn't going to give in so easily. "As I have already informed you, on _numerous_ occasions," Rei irritatedly replied, "your men will be launching simultaneous attacks on the five hidden villages, and a few in the smaller villages. We'll make sure that each village believes their allies have betrayed them."

"And how do you intend to do that?" the old man skeptically asked. "We've never directly attacked a village before, it's strategically unsound."

"We already have spies in each village," she reminded him.

Rei, herself, was more than familiar with this kind of mission, as she had been one of many operatives that had infiltrated powerful hidden villages in the past. Back when she was a young woman, trying to prove herself to the old man.

"Will you be returning to Konoha?" the old man turned, staring at her questioningly, waiting to read her expression.

"Of course not," she incredulously replied, wondering what year the old man thought it was. It had already been almost two decades since Rei had returned from her assignment in the hidden Leaf village. Though it was unlikely anyone would remember her, it would be foolish to return after so long. "I will be directing all the movement from here."

"No."

Rei's blood ran cold at his response. Who was he to say no to her? He barely knew what day it was, and had long since ceased to be a part of their group's planning and movements.

"No?" she questioned, attempting to remain calm in an effort to give nothing away of what her actual plans had been. There was a reason she was sending all the men out of their hide out to launch their attacks, while she stayed behind with the old man. He would not allow him to ruin her careful planning.

"You'll go to Suna," he ordered. His voice was firm and clear.

Rei knew better than to argue, but she wasn't discouraged. She'd find a way, she always did.

"Very well... father."

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

**TBC...**

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

_**

* * *

**_

(1) Rei means COLD

(2) Takai means DEATH... it's not his name though, it's his title, "Takai-dono"... -dono is a really old fashioned form of -sama, which is the point, to show that the Merchant of death title has been around for a LONG time.


	12. The Ametsuchi Dragon

_**Disclaimer **: Naruto © Kishimoto  
**A/N** : First off, I would like to apologize from the depths of my heart for this incredibly overdue update. I... I have... I have excuses. XP … I was lost at sea for ten years fighting cyclops and witches and sea monsters and gods... okay, seriously, I only battled two monsters.. the California State Bar, and writers block. But recently I overcame the second of these beasts and so decided that almost an entire year was more than long enough to keep you all waiting. I hope to finish this story soon but... well I can't promise anything.  
**To RECAP **(because it has been that long) : Tenten is in Suna, Koudo told Neji the truth about their mother, the Merchant of Death is about to mount a full-on inter-shinobi-nation attack (or something of that scale), and his daughter, whose the new/future MoD is in Suna... oh and did we mention... she's Tenten and Koudo's long lost mother who abandoned them shortly after Tenten's birth, but of course our beloved weapons mistress has no idea since Koudo has been hiding this truth from her ever since he discovered it fourteen years ago?_

_And now we return you to your regularly scheduled drama..._

* * *

**THE AMETSUCHI DRAGON**

The dark haired woman had arrived in Suna five days after leaving Iron Country. Though it was a shame that she had had to kill the operatives she had sent to attack the Sand Village, Rei reminded herself that she had not had any other choice. It was a necessary act in order to ensure that she was able to leave Suna before her true plan took place. And while it meant that that the Hidden Sand would be the one major shibobi village which would not be attacked during the massive inter-shinobi nation assault, and that she had lost four of her best agents, it also meant that Rei would be able to return to the Land of Iron in time to sneak into the hidden fortress during a time where she had ensured there would be minimal security.

Rei had waited years for this opportunity, a time when the shinobi world was in enough chaos that it would effect the dealings of the Merchant of Death. The fourth Shinobi War had just ended and she had finally seen her chance. Everything would have gone smoothly had the old man not sent her away. Even in his senile state, it seemed the old man still had enough sense to know that she was a danger to him.

"That crazy old coot!" the forty-five year old woman muttered under her breath as entered a small weapons shop near the outskirts of the Sand village.

Though Rei had initially intended to buy anything she needed once outside of Suna, not wanting to draw attention to herself in a major village, she had spotted the little shop on her way out and was instantly drawn into it. It wasn't that there was anything special about the shop really, but something in the window display had caught her attention. A simple green-bladed kunai that looked to be about three-fourths the normal size, perfect for a more slender hand. Being the daughter of a long line of weapon's dealers, Rei knew quality weapons when she saw them, and this was most certainly one. But it wasn't the quality which had attracted her to the weapon, nor the unique size and material. What had caught the woman's attention was the small and simple dragon emblem carved into the handle. Rei knew this symbol and she knew it well. For nearly a decade she had lived with that symbol. Under a different name, Rei had married a man who wore the simple dragon symbol on his clothes. The dragon of the Ametsuchi clan.

"This is it!" a blonde woman with four spiky pigtails exclaimed as she and another girl walked up besides Rei and grabbed the jade blade. Rei instantly recognized the Kazekage's older sister and so discretely turned away, leaving the kunai for later. It wasn't that it was important. That dragon and it's owner had been from another life. Rei wasn't the sentimental type. She held no feelings for the man she had married and later killed. It had been a mere curiosity that she had walked in at all, and really the only interest she now held in the blade itself was the fact that she knew the Ametsuchi clan had been a talented group of weapons smiths. She knew that any weapon which bore the Ametsuchi dragon was sure to be highly prized. And although there was no shortage of weapons the Merchant of Death owned, there was always room for more.

"Wow, you're right!" the other girl, who Rei could only see the back of, commented from besides the Suna Princess.

The two girls were looking at the kunai that had caught the older woman's attention, which of course peeked Rei's curiosity. Tucking herself away to a corner, the arms dealer made herself look busy eyeing the blonde girl and her bun-haired friend. As she watched them, Rei couldn't help but be drawn to the brunette. There was something about her that felt familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"I can't believe you found it!" the bun-haired girl exclaimed as she expertly flipped the black kunai I her slender hand.

Temari of the Sand crossed her arms and with a triumphant smirk on her face said, "So I was right, that was the kunai you were looking for?"

"Yes!" the other girl excitedly replied as she continued playing with the weapon. Rei was impressed, the girl obviously had great skill with the blade. The way it moved in her hand, one would think the weapon was an extension of the girl's body and not merely a ninja tool. A kunoichi no doubt, or at least that's what Rei assumed. "It's the Jade Dragon of the Ametsuchi," the girl went on as she flipped the blade over and showed the craved dragon to the blonde kunoichi. "Only five of these were made, out of pure Jade!"

"Huh..." Temari took the kunai and carefully inspected it, taking a good long moment to feel the weight and check the sharpness. "It's heavier than I thought it would be."

"Yeah," the bun-haired girl nodded as she was handed back the blade and effortlessly balanced it in her hand from the dull end. "Most people see jade as a purely decorative mineral, but in fact it can be quite strong. And it's deceptively dense, so this blade won't break at the first strike, which I can see in your eyes was the next question."

"hahaha," the sand princess laughed loudly at her friend's last statement. "Oh you know me so well Tenten," she smirked, grabbing the Jade blade back from her friend before proceeding to the checkout counter. "Well, come on," she gestured for the other girl to follow, "Bet I can get a good deal on this."

"Oh you don't have to-"

"Nonsense," the blonde cut her younger friend off, "this blade belongs to you, Ten. It's your birthright!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Temari replied, shaking her head and smirking before she added, "Plus, you've never seen me barter Ten. Just you watch. For next to nothing, I'll get you your father's dagger!"

And that's when the girl named Tenten turned, and the older woman's heart just about stopped. From behind a rack of hanging swords, Rei was looking at herself. Albeit a younger version of herself, some twenty five years in the past, but the face was unmistakable. "How can this be...?" the arms dealer whispered to herself as she watched the two girls haggle with the shop keeper, bringing the listed price of the dragon blade down to a tenth of what it was worth. And then she remembered.

The Sand princess had referred to the blade as the bun-haired girl's birthright. Her father's dagger. That made the the young brunette the daughter of the Ametsuchi clan. A daughter that looked exactly like Rei, but with a smile like "Warai..." (1)

Rei could still remember the day she had killed her husband. She had been pregnant with their second child. A girl. Rei had never named her. She had given birth and then vanished from the Hidden Leaf no less than two days after. She had never known Warai's daughter, only their son, Koudo, a spiteful little boy who never seemed to warm up to his own mother. Not that Rei could blame him. She'd never known parental love herself, so it was impossible to ask that she have been able to give that which she had never received herself. As such the boy had grown closer to his father.

"Hmph..." she furrowed her brow, realizing she had never once thought about her children since the day she left Konoha. "Guess that brat survived after all."

**.:.:.:.:.**

"Achoo!" Koudo loudly sneezed, nearly knocking himself over as he jumped from one tree to another. At any other time he would have stopped to contemplate who might be speaking ill of him, but at the present moment the only thing on the former ANBU's mind was the fact that his baby sister had disappeared from the village four nights ago. Sure Tsunade had told him that she had sent Tenten off on a mission to deliver some papers to Suna, but for the last two nights Koudo had been unable to shake this overwhelming feeling inside of him that something was just not right.

"We should stop to rest," the deep, somber voice of his traveling companion jarred Koudo out of his silent musings.

"What?" the older man turned and glared at the white-eyed shinobi following closely behind him. For once he was angry at the younger man for reasons other than that he just annoyed him. Though he had been reluctant to let the Hyuga tag along in the first place, Koudo had believed that the boy had been genuinely interested in protecting his precious Tenten. But now he was asking him to stop? As if they had any time to waste!

"Both of our chakra systems are at their limit, if we push further we will cause irreparable damage and be of no use to Tenten should she require our assistance," the Hyuga sternly informed his older partner before plopping down to the forest floor just outside the outskirts of Fire Country.

They were so close, maybe a day away from Suna. But as much as he wanted to continue, Koudo knew the young boy was probably right. And with his Hyuga eyes, Neji was more likely to see the levels of their chakra were depleted. Reluctantly, the former ANBU followed suit and dropped down to the forest floor, following Neji as he led them to a clearing next to a nearby river.

"Tenten is strong, and smart," the Hyuga reminded him as the two men began setting up a small camp with a quick fire at the center. "And she's in Suna with friends. The only danger she could possibly face is on her way back to Konoha, and as we have yet to run into her or any tracks she may have left, Tenten is likely still within the walls of the Hidden Sand, so we have little to worry about."

"You're right," Koudo nodded. There was a bitter taste in his mouth with those two simple words. Never would he have imagined that he would actually be working with the long-haired man her sister called a boyfriend. It wasn't that he particularly disliked the Hyuga. By all accounts, he was good, decent man with high aspirations and good intentions. But his overprotective nature made Koudo reject anyone who wanted to be too close to his little sister. The younger man was a good man, but he had yet to prove himself of being worthy of his precious Tenten. Still... he was grateful to the young Hyuga that Neji had supported him when Koudo went to see Tsunade and demand that he be allowed to bring Tenten back. And he was even a little grateful that Neji had volunteered to help him in his quest, without ever revealing what they had spoken about a few nights earlier, despite his obvious desire to inform the Hokage of the true circumstances behind Koudo's apprehension about his sister leaving the village at such a troubling time.

"Yeah... it's probably nothing" Koudo ominously whispered, shivering slightly as the two men shared the warmth of the fire on this chilly winter night. The fire didn't seem to help though. "I just have this very, very bad feeling..." he added, remembering feeling a similar chill in the air the night his father died. He'd been unable to do anything then, but this time Koudo swore to himself it would be different. "Hold on Tennie," he whispered softly as his eyes followed the flickering of the fire's flames. "I'm coming..."

* * *

(1) Warai, for those that have forgotten, is Tenten and Koudo's father. Oh and Ametsuchi is their clan name so... yeah...


End file.
